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tv   [untitled]    November 30, 2012 10:30pm-11:00pm PST

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don't mow to save a little bit of water and you can't walk on it and ruin it. i'm assuming it will be able for anyone in the public who wants to actually sit there or walk on it or kick a frisbee, throw a frisbee around, they can do it. >> i would hope so. we've been to the civic design committee, arts commission, that has people who -- there's landscapers and architects on this committee and asked the questions. i remember back in february we had quite a greueling session with them going through specific trees and maintenance programs and the grass and all that stuff. so, i feel they approved it unanimously. i feel they are supportive of the landscaping plan. >> i'm hoping there is enough flexibility to make it attractive. the same goes with the trees. all this drought resistance stuff often looks dry and unattractive. if they want to put something in that takes a little bit more water and looks a little better, it's kind of their dime, i would think. so, i would hope they've got that flexibility. okay, thanks. >> commissioner hillis.
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>> just back to this question on value. so, the port land, the city is going to pay the port, are we going to pay out of the remainder of the impact fees? >> no. >> where is that funding going to can you have from? >> that's part of the conversation [speaker not understood] wants to speak about this. thanks. >> if i may, pam drew from the office of economic and work force development. so, just to clarify, the purpose of the park purchase is actually a mechanism under state law. it currently is subject to the public trust and in order to remove the trust under senate bill 815, we need to provide the port with fair market value. we're confident, because the appraisal instructions require the appraiser to appraise the parcel with open space. and as a park, that the value of that appraisal will come back relatively low. the port is being very flexible, agreeing to accept payment over time and other -- >> you don't expect the payment
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to be much. the park builds open space on trust land already. >> they do. there was essentially a bit of a catch-22 because the parcel is not near water. it wasn't a regional access. >> can we build a [inaudible]? [laughter] >> they have consulted with outside counsel in hopes of finding this parcel was in compliance with the trust use. that led to a dead end. >> you expect the value to be pretty low. >> very low. >> okay, thank you. >> commissioner moore. >> i'm glad the project is coming forward and i very much appreciate commissioner antonini's questions about the grass. i would agree with him that the drought resistant trees offer [speaker not understood] being in the drought or dry instead of those kind of trees which help us also with sun and wind and protection of the adjacent unit which is energy efficiency. the one thing i would like to
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put a question mark to is that light green area astroturf for dogs. where did that come from? it is astroturf, artificial grass for dogs. >> it will be something that will be easy to clean, permeable, but easy to clean. >> i haven't seen the stuff you're talking about. i'm not very happy about that being a feature of public open spaces, dogs, people or both of them. we should carefully look at that as nothing we really want to be associated with. >> commissioner sugaya. >> yes, [speaker not understood], could you refresh my memory when we looked at this originally in terms of development plan, there is a street in here. >> right.
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>> and could you -- it doesn't seem like on the face of it that that's necessary since the intersections's just a little bit away. but this is mainly for access to the buildings? >> it's access for the buildings. also 7th and 16th don't have parking, street parking at that location. it is a very tight intersection. and, so, there is going to be this space -- the space is going to be activated with restaurants and other retail spaces. so, there's very little way to access those public uses or for people to have public use of the park. we were supportive of having this street as a way to both access the building and the uses and the park. that being said, the street is designed kind of in a [speaker not understood] style where it's flush with the right-of-way. it's very clearly -- meant to be paved and looked and designed not as a normal street. we want 99% of the traffic and no through traffic to come through here. only people will be going 5 or 10 miles an hour to drop off people and to park in those
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spots. >> okay. any additional comment? commissioner moore. >> not hearing any additional comment, i move to approve. >> second. >> commissioner antonini? >> second. [speaker not understood]. >> commissioners, on that motion to approve, commissioner antonini? >> aye. >> commissioner borden? >> aye. >> commissioner hillis? >> aye. >> commissioner moore? >> aye. >> commissioner sugaya? >> aye. >> commissioner wu? >> aye. >> and commission president fong? >> aye. >> so moved, commissioners, that motion passes unanimously 7 to 0. >> just a quick announcement. a little bit of unusual calendar today. we have a time certain item at 3 o'clock. we're going to take the next item and then after that hear the 3 o'clock. i think it's item number 17, thank you. so, the next one tehama, please. >> commissioners, before you
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are items 17 a and b, for case numbers 2008.0801e, x and v, 41 tehama street, request for determination of compliance and variance. >> good afternoon, president fong and member of the commission. my name is [speaker not understood]. if i could have the laptop screen on the overhead, please. the request before you today is for several actions regarding the project at 41 tehama street which would construct a 31 story building reaching a roof height of approximately 318 feet. the mechanical enclosure reaching a height of 342 feet. it contains 3 25 dwelling units, 700 square feet of retail space, 2 41 off-street parking spaces, and a plaza and mid-block open space -- sorry, mid-block connection to the [speaker not understood] park. the project site is located within the transit center district plan area.
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the city adopted a plan and implementing ordinances in august of 2012. the plan seems to address issues of regional sustainability and traffic congestion by focusing growth within an intense urban context in an area with transit services. the project is located two blocks south of the transit center which is currently under construction and will accommodate local and inter city bus service as well as caltrain and future high-speed rail service. other goals of the plan include scoping the downtown skyline and resting [speaker not understood] and expanding protection of historic resources. the exhibit up on the screen now illustrates the next point of heights in the plan area. adoption of the plan did include height reclassification, numerous parcels in the area to increase height limits. transbay tower which you previously approved for the height limit of 1,000 feet, top of the building shown here. several other nearby heights
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ranging from 600 to 850 feet. the subject property was reclassified as well from the previous 200 foot limit to 360 height limit. proposed project shown in the lower left of this exhibit. the remainder of the buildings are generally mapping studies, not necessarily specific building designs, but just showing heights of other parcels in the plan area. so, the project sponsor will give a detailed presentation regarding the design of this project but i'd like to focus on a number of the policy and regulatory issues of the project. the first is the issue of exceptions under planning code section 309. the code allows the project to seek exceptions from strict compliance with certain sections of the code providing that this commission make specific findings. this project requests exceptions regarding the separation of towers, rear yard, reduction of ground level wind currents and bulk requirements. compliance for the criteria of each section is in the draft 309 in your packet and i'd be happy to discuss any of these specifics in detail.
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however, to summarize, staff believes that the requested exceptions are warranted and meet the criteria of the code. in addition, the project requests variances from the requirements of the code that will be considered today by the zoning administrator. first the width of the parking loading entry to exceed the 20 foot limitation of the code. second, the units on the south side of the building do not meet code requirements for exposure onto an open area situated within the property itself although the units do face the oscar park to the south. as i mentioned, the sponsor will describe the detail design and program featureses of the project but i'd like to introduce two specific items. first, the project includes a large plaza at the western portion of the site which would include landscaping, fixed and movable seating, and adjacent retail services on the ground floor. the plaza features fluid physical connections to the future oscar park which will be situated to the south. a portion of this area will satisfy code requirements for
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mid-block crossing for visitors wish totionv travel between oscar park and tehama street. although the plaza is not fenced, visitors would be able to access the plaza. it does not require open space under the code aside from the 20 foot wide mid-block connection that i described. there are several conditions of approval included in the draft 309 section referencing required open space under planning code section 138. should the commission choose to approve the project, staff would ask those conditions be deleted as they do not apply. another issue i'd like to highlight is public art. include works of art consisting -- i'm sorry, costing an amount equal to 1% of the construction cost for the building object must contribute an in kind amount to public trust fund. the sponsor has creative approaches to satisfying this section. in part the requirement would be met through the provision of a permitted work of art to be displayed within the plaza. but the sponsor has also proposed the ground floor art
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space adjacent could be used to satisfy these requirements. this space could host exhibitions, artist and residency programs artists would be on-site and displayed in an adjacent plaza. so, in order for this project to proceed, the commission must determine that the project complies with planning code section 309 granted with the exceptions i described and findings under the prizemenal quality act that are listed within the draft 309 motion. as i mentionedth previously, the zoning administrator would need to grant the variances requested. i should note that the project will not cast any shadows on any park property subject to 25, therefore no action is needed in this particular area as was incorrectly stated in the report. so, in conclusion, staff recommends support of the project because the project creates substantial housing opportunities, meets the goals and objective of the transit center district plan, concentrate dense development near the future transit center
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and high level transit service, with intense and walkable urban context. the project will generate substantial revenues contribute to the development of infrastructure envisioned by the plan. the height of the project is as proposed in the transit center district plan contributing within the larger context of a newly sculpted downtown skyline created by the new zone heights. project meets all applicable requirements to the code aside from the exceptions being requested under 309 and the two set of variances. staff recommends that the commission make a specified findings to approve this project. thank you. i'm available for any questions you might have. >> thank you. project sponsor, please. good afternoon, commissioners. thank you very much for allowing us to present this afternoon. my name is bob tanedler. it is my pleasure to be before you to introduce the tehama [speaker not understood].
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architect our landscape architect from cmg landscape architecture, isabelle wade has helped us plan our plaza and open space integration. brad paul has helped drive our community outreach. wane hu has helped us understand the economic benefits of the project to the city and county of san francisco. sam louder has acted a senior [speaker not understood] and guided us through government interaction and make sure i don't embarrass myself up here today. susan yogi and david from acom have handled environmental review brilliantly and andrew junius is our esteemed counsel. all of our team is here to answer questions you may have. last and certainly but not least, i would like to introduce my life and business partner, my wife [speaker not understood] who will put it in historical context for you. >> thank you. good afternoon, commissioners. my name is valerie [speaker
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not understood]. my roots go back to the 1960s when i would come down to work at my parents' a pale business which is right around the corner from this site. later on in the 1980s and in the 1990s when i ran the family apparel business, this site was used as the parking lot for all of our employees. and since most of our employees are now in the apparel business and women often worked late, i remember that for safety concerns we always needed to have a guard escort them to the parking lot. and i can sure say times have changed. today we are here to present our beautiful 31-story residential high-rise designed by architect tonica and our plaza west of the building designed by cmg landscape architects. we are really very excited to be part of the remarkable
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transformation occurring in this neighborhood. and if i could ask you -- this picture you've already seen. here's the view on this slide. and you can see our site. and i don't have a pointer, i'm sorry, there it is. the plaza, and it is the gateway to the oscar park. and i particularly like this next slide because part of oscar park is under the freeway and the bus ramps. and, so, it really gives a sense as to this slide how large oscar park is and the prominence of our plaza within the entire scheme. and truly never could i have imagined that such an urban oasis would surround our building. we're really very pleased that we've been able to work with both city planning and a successor agency to the
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redevelopment agency to take our plaza and integrate it into the overall design oscar park. and now i'd like to turn the mic over to bernardo [speaker not understood] to talk about our beautiful tower. >> thank you. as you've seen in the plans that you have in froth of you, this is a pretty difficult site because it's quite narrow. yet it is quite long and it allows us to provide an adequate footprint for a residential building, and in addition to leave open space to create the plaza that valerie just talked to you about because that plaza is what makes oscar park visible from the street. it provides the window and the gateway into the park and makes it evident. otherwise, it would have a very narrow section or corridor like section that would have
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connected it to tehama street. accordingly, the building is pushed to the right of the screen as you see it. and it is adjacent to other buildings, but it is also carefully positioned so that as you arrive on the ramp into san francisco, it doesn't block the vista into the skyline of the transbay terminal. it is -- i'll take you through the organization of the building from the ground level. and this shows you how we have, beginning from the right to the left, you see the portion of plaza that is -- oops, sorry. that is integrated into oscar park and that has been the design and content of it are coincidental to the purpose of
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what happens inside. you see that at the corner of the park and the plaza there is an art space and there is a small retail space at the corner of the street in the park. and from the street you see a series of active uses including the lobby in the main management office for the building and the mail room. and concealed behind glass, printed glass doors is the loading area. we have access to the park which is hidden behind everything i described so it is not visible from the street. we have a flat resting space before you arrive to the street where cars can be delivered or picked up as part of the arrangement with the parking portion that is below. we also have two bicycle storage areas that can be entered directly from a bike
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path, a bike lane along oscar park or from the street as well, but they do not have to make it through the lobbies or the internal spaces of the building. here you can see the picture today. the parking lot that was so well described in its old days by valley, and where the site will occur. note the distance the elevated ramp coming down into the city pass part of the oscar park redevelopment into a nicer usable open space along the linear south. here we show you the openness that will instead occur. you can see the sculpture plaza that connects the street into the park and the building that follows the edge of the street
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with its active uses along the ground plain and transparency of the tower that rises above the retail podium. you can see it also position here as you drive into san francisco. and what i meant that by pushing it enough to the left, it allows you to see the skyline of the transbay tower and become part of the other buildings that are continuing the access of arrival into san francisco. you can see also how the slab is divided into five zones as it moves up and down in its profile along the long facade and breaks it up into various components. here you can see the composition of the skin with its very [speaker not understood] of slab that change from charcoal to silver and back to charcoal and with
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intermediate colors that give that movement of that undulating s shape that takes you from the ground to the sky, back to the ground and back to the sky. and that allows us to create at the top a roof terrace that over looks downtown san francisco. a roof terrace is connected to the public space for the residents. the composition on the side of the highway begins higher up for obvious reasons so they can be read from the highway elevation. while it is much lower into the scale of the street on the portion facing tehama. this is some of the treatment of the ground floor. you see the gateway that leads into the garage portion and the loading area that is properly concealed from the street with a printed glass door. and the balance of the glass spaces along the street provide transparency into the internal uses. and along the park, the green
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wall that separates the ramp and the access for the bikes and the arrival area into the ramps, that would line the side facing, the highway in oscar park. and these are the end elevations, you can see here the arrival portion into the building with that very tall space and airy space where cars are picked up and delivered. and lastly, i'd like to point out that from the checklist that you see on the screen, this building will be gold certified. it has many of the components, if not all required to achieve that certification. thank you very much. >> as bob mentioned earlier, we've been fortunate also to work with isabelle wade on the visioning of our plaza and she will be available for questions if you have any. in order to fully integrate and
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activate our plaza into the overall oscar park plan, we've retained scott katoffa, the landscape architect for oscar park to also be the landscape architect for our plaza. i'm very please today turn over the mic to steve so he can describe our plaza that will become the gateway to oscar park. >> thank you, valley, thank you, commissioners. as valley mentioned, we're very pleased torque would betion for both the successor agency on oscar park as well as the realty on this important little plaza that is stitching those two spaces together and expanding the possibilities of oscar park, which as you can see from the images is a pretty constrained open space with the overhead ramp and the division of the streets in between. the oscar park is the area shown this pink here and it is
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situated within sort of walkable open spaces in burgeoning san francisco neighborhood. it is divided up by several streets. tehama plaza is identified here in white. and you can see the division of the streets as well asedth topography and overhead ramps create a series of sort of separate rooms and we are programming them differently based on those site constraints and individual characteristics. in addition, because of the type of location it is, we are highly programming the park with lots of activities that will bring people to the site throughout the day, throughout the evening, throughout the year so there are lots of eyes on the park and lots of activities. the program is focusing on rec space, which is sort of lacking in the neighborhood. there's a lot of new parks that are coming online as part of the redevelopment project, but they're more sort of pleasure ground similar to the atlantic [speaker not understood] gardens. this is about play grounds and court sports and other kinds of
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activities. this diagram shows the park's connection and the plaza's connection to the park circulation. we have a dedicated class 1 bike lane that runs north-south connecting the rincon hill neighborhood with the new transit senterra long the west side of the park that's located shown in blue. we also have a dedicated pedestrian accessible root, a strong connection for people to get to the transit center. * route in addition we have circuitous links to the park spaces. i'd like to quickly zoom in on our plaza space. we have designed the plaza to be very open to allow for [speaker not understood] to move through so the ground floor retail and cultural spaces of the building can be easily accessed not only from tehama street but from oscar park. people can move easily through the space. we also set up a zone where tables and chairs can spill out from that ground floor retail space and activate the plaza as well as places where
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performances and some of the public gallery spaces that the client is interested in having can also be accommodated in the plaza design. as you can imagine, this site has constraints about sun exposure. we've done a lot of mapping to locate program. i understand how and where planting can occur. one of the great things about the plaza, it's one of our sunniest spots within the park. and this image is shown from the mid-block crossing that connects the circulation that sort of northwest, north-south pedestrian bicycle connections through oscar park. it's a really terrific sort of aperture of the building that opens up into the park. you can see the new bus ramp turn around in the middle distance as well as the 80 fremont ramp in the far distance. and the percent for art piece, this is a representation, we worked with the arts commission to identify something in particular here, but it sort of is a marker and icon in the
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space. the plaza itself as i mentioned is quite flexible and simple. there are some dedicated seating spaces that are multi-sided so that the users can integrate with the plaza as well as with the park. we have a play space nearby that is intended to be engaged. another view looking from tehama space across the plaza. >> commissioners, we want to be rerespectful of your time. we're going over a couple minutes. if i can put the video back up for just a moment. briefly stated you can see some slides on the economic contribution of this project to the city and county of san francisco [speaker not understood] $6 million. taxes between 18 and $38 million on an annualized basis for 10 years whether it's a rental or for sale. i'm going to go through these very, very quickly. i think you probably are a little more interested in learning about the community outreach we've done. we have done a considerable
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effort with brad paul helping us to meet with a number of neighborhood groups. i'm going so hand jason, if i may, a stack of support letters from groups and individuals we've met with, organizations represented on the slide. finally, kevin did a good job describing our art program which will be in the alternative of meeting the $1 million art project or providing programmatic for the art space. thank you for your time. that is our present aches. apologize for taking too much time. >> thank you. we might have questions for you, so, thank you. opening it up for public comment. i do have some speaker cards and i'll call some names. mark shelly. michael terrio. tony rodriguez, danny campbell. and if you'd like to speak on this item, you can fill out a card as well. mark said to go first. so, mike [speaker not
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understood] construction trades council. you have a crowd waiting on the next item. we're excited by this project. it is dramatic from a distance yet at the same time pays close attention to the street. you've heard how close attention they're paying to the ties adjacent to oscar park. we are excited also because it contributes in a virginia vet right of ways to the transbay transit district both directly through the fees the project sponsor just showed you, but also in fulfilling its goal of residential density, close to transit. * variety we consider it [speaker not understood] to the economic [speaker not understood] of the city. although work is good for us right now, we'd like it frankly to continue that way. so, we ask you to approve the project. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> excuse me, for those of you standing in front of the doorways, i'm going to ask you to line up on the other side of the room or find a seat. there are a few empty seats still available. for ske